


The Butterfly Effect (Maxneil)

by psychedoutkid



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: How Do I Tag, M/M, Maxneil, No beta I die, it's a crush-y coming out-y thing, it's not really too relevant but it's there, max is trans, neil is gay, other charachters - Freeform, they aren't in it a ton but they're there, they're teenagers btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-09-07 09:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16851136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychedoutkid/pseuds/psychedoutkid
Summary: Crushes are dumbSummer is hotAnd Max likes NeilA whole fucking lotYou break one air conditioner and suddenly you're confessing your feelings to your crush.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> hello there aren't enough maxneil fics imao. Which means I whipped one out and made an ao3 account for the soul purpose of publishing it.
> 
> strong language (It's camp camp) & slightly aged up characters. It's still their first summer but they're like 14-15.
> 
> I've got a couple more chapters in progress and an idea for another maxneil fic in the works. Enjoy!!

Admittedly, it was probably too hot to be wearing a sweatshirt and pants. The summer sun had been beating down mercilessly all afternoon, and no one was up for a single one of David's activities. Eventually, the heat took its toll on the overenthusiastic counselor as well and he gave up on heckling the campers. Everyone at the camp was gathered in the mess hall, the only building with any sort of air conditioning. Even Nikki, normally unaffected by summer heat, was leaning against a wall, gazing out a window absentmindedly. Max, sweating profusely under his hoodie, hung as closely to the weak air conditioner as he could. Neil was splayed out on the floor, eyes closed, tan curls damp and unruly. This was where Max’s gaze fell as he leaned up against the ancient unit behind him. As he breathed out a sigh, there was a loud crash and Max was pushed to the floor. 

Neil's eyes shot open, and every face in the room turned to see what had interrupted the the heavy silence. They found the air conditioning unit had given out entirely, dropping from its place below a window. Normally, none of the campers gave a damn about the state of the camp's equipment, but they all knew immediately what a broken air conditioner meant. After a second of silence, Gwen groaned. 

“Did you really have to bust the air conditioner today, Max?” 

“It's not my fault! The thing is ancient, it barely even worked in the first place!” He protested. This was met with uproar from the other campers. Neil, now sitting up moaned,

“Jesus, I'm going to die today,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “This wouldn't have happened at science camp.”

David had made his way over to the air conditioning unit and, kneeling down to examine it, he said,

“It doesn't look too bad, I'm sure quartermaster will be able to fix it!” As David marched off to find the hook-handed groundskeeper, the campers started to complain to each other.

For the first time in what felt like hours, Nikki, turned to face the other campers, a gleam in her eyes.

“Guys!” She shouted over the groans, “The lake!!” Immediately, the campers scrambled towards the door, recognizing the Lake Lilac as the next best place to cool off. 

Gwen yelled after them, unmoved by Nikki's revelation, “Change into your suits! We're not dealing with any more drenched jeans!”

Max and Neil were the only two left in the mess hall as Gwen followed the kids out. Max, now seated on a bench, was in no rush to get in the lake. Neil seemed to be on the same page, as he had layed back down, arms out by his sides.

“You know how fucking filthy that floor is, right?” Max said, eyeing Neil.

“Mmmm,” Neil barely responded, eyes still closed.

“Normally you're such a germ freak,” Max scoffed. Getting up and walking leisurely over to his friend, he kicked the side of Neil's leg. 

Neil opened one eye and, squinting up at Max. “What gives, dude?” 

“Don't you want to go swim?”

“Swim? I don't even want to move.”

Max kicked Neil's shin again. “Why? Jesus, It's not that hot,” Max lied. His t-shirt was drenched in sweat, but he definitely wasn't going to be seen without his hoodie on.

“Debilitating anxiety” Neil responded matter-of-factly. 

“Alright,” Max said, a little unsure of what to do, “I'm gonna go change. Anything beats this lameass conversation.” Another lie. Max was certainly not going to go change. He wasn't even sure he had a swimsuit with him. 

Dragging his feet the whole way, Max made slow progress from the mess hall to the showers, which everyone seemed to have overlooked as a potential spot to avoid the heat. Though Max could barely stand the thought of it, he walked slowly in the hope that Neil would come after him. Glancing behind him as he reached the structure, there was still no one around. Grumbling, Max entered through the door on the right half of the building marked 'boys.’ It was cooler inside than Max had expected, and for that he was grateful. The showers, which also contained the public camp toilets, were located in a grey looking brick building split into two halves. Each side was the same: a row of stalls and three showers, protected from the outside world only by a slightly translucent shower curtain. Across the room were a row of sinks set into a countertop and, next to the door, a full length mirror. There were no urinals, which Max was completely okay with. No one thought too much of it, Campbell was just cheap. 

Still drenched in sweat despite the cooler temperature, Max peeled off his sweatshirt and t-shirt both in one motion. He hadn't meant to remove his shirt, but decided it was fine for the time being, and tossed them both onto the counter. Wandering over to the mirror, the curly haired boy stared into his own reflection. His bright eyes, ringed with dark circles, looked back at him blankly. Making a face at himself in the mirror and then looking down at his chest, Max tugged at the grey fabric that hugged his torso. It was sweaty and more than a little uncomfortable at this point, and also needed to be washed soon. Waving this thought away, Max grabbed his t-shirt from the counter and threw it on as he walked back to the mirror.

It was fine, he thought to himself. You couldn't see the outline of his binder though the yellow tee. After scrutinizing his own reflection for a moment more, Max hopped up on to the counter, his short legs dangling off the edge. There were probably hours to waste away before it got dark and the other kids left the lake to get ready for bed, so he let his mind wander. 

Neil, laying on the floor, splayed out, eyes closed, face slightly pink from the heat. Neil, in general, babbling about experiments he wanted to conduct. Max smirked to himself. Despite his own apathetic nature, there was something he loved about Neil's passion for science. It didn't hurt that he was also smart, albeit annoyingly so. And tall. And had hair that Max wanted nothing more than to run his  
fingers through. These thoughts weren't new to Max. Although the nature of his feelings were difficult for him to deal with, the cynical teenager had been nursing this crush on Neil since early in the summer. 

Naturally, Max had done absolutely nothing about it. He slept on a cot a few feet away from Neil every night, and tried not to think about it. He teased and prodded at Neil just like he did everyone else, and kept all his feelings in the pit of his stomach. He focused his energy on annoying David, and that was a good distraction from Neil. But the more time passed, the more Max was getting restless. He was sure he'd regret it if he outed himself to Neil, much less confessed his feelings for him. For all the time he spent thinking about the other boy, he hadn't much considered Neil's sexuality. There was nothing to go off of. He was, as he proudly like to say 'a man of science’ and he'd never talked about crushes or anything of the sort at length. 

Neil. Neil. Neil. Max was infuriated with his own obsession. These feelings were everything he was not. Obsessive, overwhelming and most of all, genuine.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, we're still going at it. I wrote the first three chapters of this story in a 24 hour writing fever and then revised them a few times during the next week, so we'll see how cohesive it ends up being. I hope I can keep updating this at least once weekly until it's done.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos or a comment, i'm really flattered and glad you guys are enjoying it!

Neil was still laying on the mess hall floor when David returned with Quartermaster not fifteen minutes after Max had left. When he came back to find everyone gone but the gangly, anxiety-ridden camper, David was more than a little concerned. 

Shaking him by the arm, David asked Neil repeatedly if he was okay. When Neil sat up to face David his eyes looked blank and upset. There might have even been some red patches on his cheeks, indicating that the young scientist had been crying. 

“What's going on Neil? Are you okay?” the counselor questioned, concern edging his voice. 

Neil wasn't prepared with an answer. No, he wasn't prepared to confirm his creeping suspicions out loud, especially not to David, of all people.

“I'm fine. I don't feel that great, but it's probably just the heat.” 

David frowned “I'm sorry to hear that,” he said bringing his hand to the kid's forehead, “You're really warm… but I guess we all are today,” he said, cracking a smile which Neil did not return. “You'd better go take a cool shower, or at least wash your face. I'll see if I can find you an ice pack or something.” 

Neil groaned, rising to his feet, “Alright,” was all he could manage to say to David as he headed out of the mess hall. 

Head throbbing, Neil started the trek to the showers, not even considering swinging by his tent to grab a towel and extra clothes. While Neil had been trying to block out his thoughts all day by simply shutting down, David had thrown him back into the real world, where his anxiety took hold again. 

He'd never been fond of emotions. He wasn't good at making friends or connecting with peers. No, what Neil liked, what he was good at, was science. And science could only get you so far with emotions. He could understand the chemicals in his brain that made him happy and anxious and… excited, but there was nothing science could do for Neil beyond that. He didn't have a formula for getting over a crush, or even accepting that he had one in the first place. There was no experiment he could do, no chemicals he could mix, no forces he could calculate that would tell him what to do with his feelings for Max. 

As he pushed the door to the showers open, he could hear the sound of sneakers hitting the floor inside. As the door swung shut behind him, Neil was a bit shocked to see Max standing next to the counter, in the process of pulling his hoodie over his curls. The taller boy watched his friend struggle for a moment before his scowling face came into view. 

“Oh, hey Neil,” Max said, trying to sound casual. As he looked at him closer though, Max did a double take. “Shit, have you been crying?”

Taken aback, Neil spluttered out an answer, “No, I'm just, I have heat stroke or something. David told me to come take a cold shower.” 

“Were you laying in the mess hall all afternoon?” Max questioned further.

Trying to regain his wits was hard, and it took Neil a moment to respond. 

“Have you been in the bathroom all afternoon? You don't look like you've been swimming.” 

To Neil's surprise, Max just sighed in response. The boys made eye contact for a moment before Max looked down and strolled past Neil, towards the door. 

“I'll leave you to your shower mastrubation, dork.”

Neil swallowed hard after that comment and, as soon as Max had disappeared and the door had slammed behind him, he collapsed onto the cool tile floor. 

Outside, where the sun was starting to dip lower in the sky, Max headed towards his tent, cussing himself out as he went.

“Fuck. Stupid fuck. Why'd you say that? Why shower mastrubation? That was so weird. It wasn't even... Fuck.” Max muttered under his breath. A few campers were dragging themselves from the lake towards the showers, and one of them shouted to Max as they went.

“Max! Max!” Came Nikki's yell “Where've you and Neil been all day??” 

The taller girl bounded towards Max, her green hair dripping wet, with Nurf, Preston, Harris and Space Kid all on her tail, each with a towel in hand.

“Around,” Max shouted back, trying to throw some of his usual aloof sarcasm into his tired voice.

“Were you and science nerd making out in your tent all afternoon?” Nurf said, laughing. As the other kids started to chuckle, Max felt his face growing warm. His day had been hot and miserable enough, he was in a bad mood, was there no break from the horrors of this shitty camp?

As he heard Nurf and Harrison singsonged “gaaaaay” in unison, Max snapped.

“Why? What's it to you, Nurf? What's it to any of you that I'm queer?” he shouted before storming off to his tent before anyone could respond. 

The group of five looked at each other in silent shock before Nikki said quietly, “Did... Max just come out?” 

Turning back towards the showers, the kids walked in quiet, splitting up as Nikki headed to the girl's side of the showers and Preston, Harrison and Space Kid followed Nurf into the boy's half.

Neil, sitting in one of the bathroom stalls, sucked in his breath as he heard the door open and four pairs of bare feet slap onto the tile floor. For a moment it was silent, before Harrison spoke.

“So, is Max gay? Was that something we knew?”

Neil thought his heart might stop.

Preston shook his head, surprisingly at a loss for words.

“Maybe you shouldn't have said that, Nurf,” Space Kid piped up.

“You don't think I haven't realized that already?” Nurf immediately retorted gruffly.

Preston, after a moment of thought, spoke. 

“The way he phrased it was definitive. The implications of ‘that I'm queer’ are different than those of 'if I'm queer.’ A good playwright knows how much one small word can change a line's meaning.”

“Wait, which one did he say again?” Space Kid asked, looking between the three taller boys.

“‘What's it to any of you that i'm queer’” Preston recited, emphasis on 'that,' speaking as if he'd committed the line to memory already and was mentally writing his next script around it. 

That i'm queer, Neil thought. He'd been so caught up in his anxiety, imagining every way that he could possibly mess things up, that he'd never risked hoping Max was anything but straight. That I'm queer. Anxiety be damned, Neil burst out of the stall, interrupting the other boys’ conversation. Without saying a word, he rushed towards the exit and ran to his tent as fast as his scrawny legs would carry him, his campmates staring after.

Clearly in a foul mood, Max didn't even look over at the tent's entrance when Neil stumbled in, clearly out of breath. The shorter boy was laying on his cot, wrapped in a blanket, starting blankly at the tent's fabric wall.

“Max,” Neil panted. He swallowed hard before practically vomiting out a jumble of words.

“Maxareyougay?”

Now sitting up, Max blinked at Neil, who looked pale and fear-stricken. Just as Max started to open his mouth to respond, the other boy backed out of the tent and disappeared from view.


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've rewritten bits of this chapter multiple times now, so hopefully this reads better than it would have a few days ago (which is why it's late). I think this whole fic should be five or six chapters when it's done. 
> 
> Enjoy!

By now it was nearly dark, and Neil was aimlessly wandering the camp. He eventually settled on the end of the dock and, mind racing, trying to unpack what had happened. 

God. He felt like a moron. Why did he have to make it so…weird. You can't just do that to someone. Burst in and ask about their sexuality without any warning. Even for all his social incapabilities, this felt low. Though over half an hour had passed, Neil's heart was still pumping much too quickly as he retraced his thoughts. 

You like Max. You're have a fucking crush on Max, your best friend in this hellhole of a camp. And now you've made it even weirder. Even weirder than this morning when you shut down on the mess hall floor because you couldn't handle being around Max after you realized. Was it pervy to have a crush on your best friend? Oh, god. Would Max think Neil was horrible if he told him? Being gay was one thing. Maybe if he'd been up front about it, come out months ago, it wouldn't be weird. Maybe, if everyone already knew, he could just slip his hand into Max's and he would understand. Maybe- 

Neil stopped himself. There was no going back and doing things differently. This was the situation he had to work with, even if it was miserable to think about.

These thoughts were interrupted by footsteps on the dock. He didn't have the chance to turn around before the person behind him spoke.

“Hey,” said Max, “I don't know.”

Neil twisted around to see Max walking towards him, hands in his hoodie pocket. 

‘You… What?” Neil managed to reply back as the other boy stared down at his feet.

“I'm not gay, I mean, I don't think. Just queer, I guess. I'm not sure. I don’t like labels. I mean, I like…” More vulnerable sounding than Neil had ever heard him, Max sucked in his breath and then exhaled, “I like guys. I like you.”

Neil started in disbelief.

“That's probably creepy to hear from your friend. I get the feeling that you don't exactly…” Max trailed off, cracking a sad sort of smile. “

“Max...I..” 

“It's fine, Neil, you don't have to be okay with it,” the short boy said. As Max turned to walk away, Neil spoke.

“Max, I'm gay,” Neil blurted. “I.. I…” 

For a moment it was silent and then Max slowly moved to sit down on the wooden planks. 

“You… Like me?” Neil asked

Looking away from Neil's blue eyes, Max nodded. When he glanced back up at the other boy he could tell, even in the fading light, that Neil’s face was growing red. 

“I like you too,” 

Max didn’t have a response. The only thing he could think to do was lean towards his friend and kiss him. Chills shot up Neil’s spine as Max’s lips collided with his, and he thought maybe he had gotten so overheated and anxious that perhaps he was hallucinating. However, when Max pulled back everything still felt real, and the sandy-haired teenager was blushing harder than ever. Despite the mix of emotions churning in his gut, Max couldn’t suppress a smirk about how hot and bothered- no pun intended- Neil looked. 

After a deep, slightly shaken breath, Neil looked up at Max and in one, rather clumsy motion pulled him closer. They kissed again, longer this time. Eyes closed, Max’s hand found its way to Neil’s hair immediately. When they broke apart, the moon was up over Lake Lilac. Both boys stopped for a moment to stare.

“Is this okay?” Neil asked, looking shyly at his friend.

“Yeah,” he replied, breathless. Neil swore there was a hint of blush tinting Max's caramel-colored cheeks. 

“All of that anxiety… and the whole time you..” Neil said aloud, a disbelieving expression on his face. Max, usually adverse to physical contact, took the taller boy’s hand.

“They say that if someone teases you it means they like you,” he said, still staring out over the lake.

“Oh, please. You tease everyone, and you don't like anyone,” Neil laughed, a smile spreading over his face, “I practically went into shock when I realized I had a thing for you.” 

“What? I'm not that horrible!” 

“No, you're just an asshole. But, I can't, I don't know shit about crushes and feeling and..” He trailed off, his face falling.

“This is fucking weird. You're fucking weird.” Max said, squeezing Neil's hand. They both fell silent for a moment, watching the darkened sky. “This is stupid romantic. Gross.” Max laughed.

The only response Neil gave was “C’mon,” and they both stood up and, still hand in hand, headed for their tent.

When they reached it though, David was waiting for them, his face lit only by the lantern he carried. When the two boys saw him, they pulled their hands apart, looking up nervously at their counselor.

“Where have you two been?” David asked sternly, blocking the entrance to the tent.

“Bathroom,” Neil blurted at the same time Max said “None of your business,”

David glanced between the two of them then, noticing the pink still tinting Neil's cheeks, he gave a soft smile.

“Just get to bed, you guys,” he told them as he turned to head towards his cabin, “Goodnight!”

Max and Neil exchanged a look as they crawled into their tent.

“David never lets us off that easy,” Neil remarked as he started to change into his pajamas.

“Maybe he was just feeling generous. Or tired,” Max said. 

Within seconds of spotting the other boy pulling off his shirt, Max quickly realized there was no way he could sneak away to get changed in the bathroom like he usually did. Quickly pulling on his pajama pants when Neil's back was turned, he then sat down on the edge of his cot. When the other boy saw him, he chuckled.

“You're going to sleep in that tonight?” Neil asked, gesturing to Max's hoodie.

The shorter teenager huffed, pulling the hoodie over his head before tossing it on the floor. Immediately self-conscious, Max pulled the nearest blanket up over his chest as Neil watched.

Both blushing profusely, there was an awkward moment of silence in the tent. Neil’s eyes flicked away from Max’s for a moment, unsure of what to say or do. 

“We should probably, uh, get to bed, right?” Neil said, disrupting the quiet tension. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Max responded, sounding distracted.

“You okay, Max?” Neil walked over to sit next to his friend- _more than friend?_ \- leaving a few inches between the two of them.

“I’m… good,” He said, shooting the other boy a smile that David would’ve been delighted by. Neil smiled back, blush heating his cheeks yet again. After their tent lantern was out and both teenagers were in bed, Max spoke again.  
“Goodnight, Neil,” 

“Goodnight, Max,”


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a little while. I guess my motivation died out for this story, but now that the new camp camp season started, I'm gettin back into it. This one's pretty short but I hope you enjoy anyway. Thanks so much for your patience, I hope these new chapters measure up to the past ones!
> 
> xx

From the moment Neil opened his eyes the next morning, he knew the day was going to be utterly bizarre. 

He awoke to the sound of yelling, which wasn't at all unusual for Camp Campbell. Also like usual, Max was missing from his bed when Neil looked over at it. This time, though, his absence struck a new kind of fear in Neil. His anxieties only grew as he got dressed, mentally going over the previous night’s events. Once he reached the mess hall, however, everything seemed normal. Max was staring disinterestedly at his food while Nikki babbled on next to him. Nerris and Harrison appeared to be in the midst of a very heated argument that accounted for the shouting Neil had awoken to. 

Neil grabbed a tray of the Quartermaster's questionable breakfast concoction and walked over to join his friends at their table. This was the first of many instances that day where Neil was unsure what to do. Make the conscious choice to sit next to Max or take the closer spot next to Nikki as he normally would? Should he expend that bit of effort to show Max he cared about him, or would that seem clingy? Was this small thing worth worrying about at all? Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't going to make it through the day without horribly embarrassing himself in front of Max. Trying to continue breathing normally, Neil sat down next to Nikki. The minute his tray hit the tabletop she turned to him with her trademark crazy grin. 

“I heard you and Max got caught out of your tent last night! Trying to get a headstart on today's adventure?”

Max piped up from the other end of the table, still not looking up, “It wasn't that big a deal, Nikki. We weren't trying to go on some bigfoot hunt without you,” 

“Bigfoot hunt? Oooh, that's a good one! Neil, you should add that to the list!”

Sighing, Neil pulled out a notebook and flipped through a few pages before scribbling something down below the header 'Nikki's Weird Adventure Ideas,’ a list he'd started keeping at her request. 

All throughout breakfast, Max never once made eye contact with Neil, and with every minute that passed, his anxiety grew. Although they'd ended last night on good terms, Neil still feared the worst. Max could have woken up this morning regretting the whole thing, or perhaps it was part of an elaborate prank to fuck with Neil's feelings. As campers finished up their breakfasts and wandered outside, Max and Neil both sat silently on opposite sides of Nikki.

“Did you guys have a fight or something?” She asked, standing up to put away her tray.

“Nah,” Max said, looking up “I just haven't had any coffee yet. I think David's trying to cut me off.”

“Oh,” was Nikki's only reply as she wandered out of the mess hall, leaving Neil and Max alone together. 

Sweating under his turtleneck, Neil spoke up.

“Want to go figure out where David stashed the coffee?” he asked tentatively. To Neil's immense relief, Max turned to him with a smile and a glint in his eye that made Neil's stomach flip happily. 

“Fuck yeah,” was his reply as he grabbed Neil by the arm and pulled him off the bench. Max had exerted a bit more force than necessary though, and Neil's body crashed into his as they stood. Petrified at the unexpected intimacy, Neil stumbled over his words. Before he could get any kind of coherent sentence out, Max reached up and, tugging at Neil's turtleneck, pulled the taller boy down to his level. It wasn't as smooth as Max had hoped, but he still leaned forward to give Neil a very quick kiss before heading out of the mess hall. 

Vocabulary failing him yet again, Neil stood for a moment, processing yet again. Ten minutes ago he had thought Max was angry with him, but… He put a hand to his lips. He had never claimed to have Max figured out, but this was more mystifying than ever. He knew Max could be selfish and was often downright mean, but he had his moments of unexpected generosity and kindness. Filing his thoughts away for later, Neil dashed out of the mess hall. It didn't take him long to catch up with Max, who was headed in the direction of David and Gwen's cabin.


End file.
